NBC Berlin correspondent Piers Anderton inside the tunnel during the network’s 1962 escape project.
Special Collections & University Archives, University of Maryland
The Earth may be entering an era in which natural and human-generated fire together are reshaping the planet.
Buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, illuminated by George Westinghouse’s alternating current.
Field Museum Library/Wikipedia
Up until the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, gambling and baseball had a marriage of convenience. A century later, gambling is again being seen as a solution to the sport’s woes.
Native American burial mound at Lake Jackson Mounds State Park, north of Tallahassee, Fla.
Ebaybe/Wikipedia
In just five Florida Panhandle counties, sea level rise could swamp more than 500 archaeological sites that tell the story of when and how Native Americans lived along the Gulf Coast.
Mary E. Harper (left) and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (right), whose two photos in ‘Atlanta Offering’ are unusual.
Unidentified Artist, 1895, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University
A 19th-century volume contained a mystery for two historians who combined their knowledge to tell the story of the women and their contributions to American democracy.
The signing of the U.S. Constitution.
Architect of the Capitol
The Framers of the Constitution knew their history, and sought to learn from it – and only to repeat the parts they liked.
The Rosa Parks Barbie (centre) with other figures from the Inspiring Women Series. From L to R: Katherine Johnson, Sally Ride, Frida Kahlo and Amelia Earhart.
Mattel, Inc.
It’s great that toy companies are celebrating diverse role models, but children could be taught so much more in their write ups of their stories.
Will Donald Trump peacefully vacate the Oval Office if he loses the presidential election in 2020? The American 1800 election showed that peaceful transitions of power are the result of choices made by individuals.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Throughout the course of American history, peaceful transitions of power have been the result of choices made by individuals, not the U.S. political system. What does that mean if Trump loses in 2020?
Slavery is not so far removed. Anderson and Minerva Edwards met in the 1860s as enslaved laborers in Texas, had 16 children and lived into their 90s in a cabin a few miles from the plantations they once worked. They are photographed here in 1937.
U.S. Library of Congress
Three scholars argue that agriculture is failing to sustain either the land or American farmers. They propose a modern version of the New Deal that centers on ecology and economic fairness.
Entry to Mount Rushmore along the Avenue of Flags.
Xiao Fang/Wikimedia
Patriotism means pride in country, but what are we proud of? A former national park ranger suggests that visiting historic sites can remind Americans of the heritage, good and bad, that they share.
The institution’s west dormitory is depicted in this 1942 photograph. Scudder demanded that no walls be erected on the prison grounds.
AP Photo
‘The Life of Washington’ was painted in the 1930s by an artist who sought to upend a rosy narrative of US history. Now some are saying its images ‘traumatize’ viewers – and ought to be taken down.